Crises doing for Europe what everything else failed to do

EFFORTS to unite Europe and weld countries into a more powerful force to take its place in the world have not been very successful up to now.

But recent crises appear to be achieving what treaties and cajoling have failed to do. The leaders of the EU 27 meet in Brussels on Friday to discuss a united strategy before the November 17 global summit in Washington, which many hope will lay the foundation for new rules governing the global economy.

At the same time countries are grappling with their acknowledgement that climate change needs to be tackled, but they are reluctant to pay the cost and are desperately seeking ways to minimise it, including using it to create new jobs.

So we have a EU that says the environment is an opportunity and capitalism has to be tamed — what a difference a few short years make.

It’s especially obvious in the European Commission where the president, Jose Manuel Barroso rode into power on foot of hosting a US war mongering meeting as Portuguese prime minister.

A firm follower of liberal economics, he made it known that the Anglo-Saxon model was the one to follow.

He surrounded himself by the high priests and priestesses of the creed — Charlie McCreevy, Peter Mandelson, Gunter Verhoygen and Neelie Kroes.

The belief was that, basically, if you could not spend it, it didn’t deserve to exist. So education, health, environment, science, consumers and all those incidentals were on the margins.

Small commissioners got small portfolios like the environment, or impossible ones like communication.

But there was not the slightest trace of this neocon, high capitalism about Mr Barroso when he faced the media last week, outlining his recovery plan for Europe.

The change has not been sudden — it has been gradual over the past two years or so, spurred on every now and then by whatever was the latest crisis.

Ironically it can be traced back to Mr Barroso’s chief promoter, the then British prime minister Tony Blair. His EU was to be a common market where his industry could thrive in perfect conditions.

But shocked by the refusal of France to come to his aid when he was running short of fuel, Mr Blair saw another use for the union — as a mutual aid society when being battered by the cruel world.

And fuel security, as everyone knows, is closely linked to the vagaries of climate change and the environment. The changes required to keep the global temperature from rising two degrees centigrade requires a new industrial revolution — and as Mr Barroso points out, this is an opportunity.

He is attempting to hold this line in the teeth of the economic earthquake now gripping the world, warning that it’s not an optional extra. Member states and industry are howling at the prospect of having to pay billions to meet climate change objectives.

No doubt there will be lots of constructive accounting in the final package. But at least the imperative of energy security and its related climate change initiatives are galvanising the EU into action. As is the economic meltdown facing the world.

On Friday, the 27 leaders of the EU member states meet in Brussels for a lunchtime summit to discuss the next step in tackling the crisis and how best to move forward.

They know they need to hold their own at the Washington summit where the US is seen as the culprit for the current debacle and the new global tigers are flexing their muscles.

The ECB has helped lead the way internationally over the past few weeks gaining it a lot of respect. A united EU insisting on a balanced degree of global financial regulation could not just strengthen the union, but help minimise the effects of the recession and place Europe in a good position to benefit from a new economy.